


First Impressions

by Sergeant_Sporks



Series: A Window to the Past [1]
Category: Tales of Arcadia (Cartoons), Wizards: Tales of Arcadia
Genre: Angst, Backstory, Child Abuse, Fluff, Gen, Oneshot, parental Archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-26
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 08:27:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29007558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sergeant_Sporks/pseuds/Sergeant_Sporks
Summary: Archie is on his own for the first time, completely free to be what he wants and do what he wants. He doesn't need anyone's help, and he doesn't want it.But he meets a small human that might need his.
Series: A Window to the Past [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2128017
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	First Impressions

Archie stalked through the streets of Camelot, stomach growling. He reached a stall selling sausages, and he glanced around, making sure no one was looking before jumping up and snatching one up.

A massive hand smacked him. “Thief!”

Archie went flying, dropping the sausage, which was kicked away from him. He dodged through pairs of legs, trying to pounce on it, but an alley cat got there first and bolted away.

Fine. He hadn’t been that hungry anyway.

His stomach growled again. Maybe he should go home. Maybe his father was right, and he couldn’t hack it out here, not as a cat.

“Here, kitty-kitty…”

Archie turned a disdainful glare towards the caller. A human child with messy jet-black hair was crouching down, holding a hand out to Archie. Archie sniffed. He wasn’t some purring pet to be beckoned. But… he was holding out… Archie’s mouth watered. Meat. He approached cautiously.

“C’mere, kitty,” the boy soothed, “Come on, I won’t hurt you.”

Archie got a little closer. This seemed like a trap—what was his game?

When Archie just got a little closer, though, the boy gently tossed the strip of meat. Archie caught it, and started to turn away, but something made him stop and look back. The kid was still crouched, watching him with a satisfied half-smile on his dirty face.

Archie felt another pang of hunger, and his belly screamed at him to eat the meat and go, but… he looked back again. The human child honestly needed the food more than he did. He was gaunt and skinny, and looked like a breeze would tip him over.

Archie padded back, presenting the meat back to the human, who laughed. “C’mon, aren’t you hungry? I saw you trying to steal that sausage.”

 _Just take it before I change my mind_ , Archie thought grumpily, dropping it in his hand.

The human tore the strip of meat in half, offering one piece to Archie. “Share, then?”

Well. If he insisted, who was Archie to disagree? He snapped up the meat in an instant, swallowing before the human could change his mind.

The boy chewed on his piece thoughtfully. “My name’s Hisirdoux,” he told Archie, “But my friends call me Douxie. Well. If I…” He turned red and shoved the rest of the meat in his mouth.

 _If you had any_ , Archie finished sadly in his mind. He knew that story.

“I’ve never seen a cat with glasses before.” Douxie scratched behind Archie’s ears. “I’m running away,” he confided, still chewing, “I don’t want to go back home. They’re all mean.” He made a face. “One day, when I’m a knight, I’m going to come back in all my armor and order them around. Then I’ll get to see their faces when I take off my helmet and it’s me. They’ll all be like ‘huhhhh?! Sir Hisirdoux?!’” He pulled his face into an exaggeration of surprise, his mouth wide open and his eyebrows raised as high as they’d go.

Archie barely held back a snort. This kid thought he was going to be a knight? He was a little bit too much on the scrawny side for that. Maybe they’d use him for target practice—he looked like he knew how to run.

“HISIRDOUX!”

Douxie’s eyes widened, and he scrambled to his feet. “Uh-oh! Run!” He started to bolt away, but a big, red-faced man grabbed him by the collar of his vest, lifting him up.

“Oh, no you don’t!”

Douxie’s bare feet kicked in the air, and he reached backwards, prying at the man’s grip. “Lemme go!”

“Stop it! You’re making a scene!”

Archie hissed, his ears flat against his head. The man aimed a kick at him, and Archie ducked away, jumping up onto a fence and watching with narrowed eyes.

Douxie squirmed around, still kicking but hitting nothing. “Lemme go, you mean, fat—”

The man gave him a shake. “You’re coming back with me whether you like it or not, you little rat, so just—”

Douxie wriggled out of his vest and landed with a little “oof” on his feet. He started running away, and Archie leapt onto the roof of a stall, following him. He didn’t know why. Maybe he just felt like he owed Douxie for the food. Maybe he related to the squishy little human that didn’t have any friends. Whatever the case, he followed the boy’s flight through Camelot, chased by the big man.

With his higher vantage point, Archie could see things before Douxie, and he barely kept from yelling a warning as the little human ran on a collision course for a knight. Douxie hit the knight and bounced off of the metal armor, skidding across the ground.

“Whoa, there,” the knight laughed, picking Douxie up and setting him back on his feet. “What’s your hurry, hm?”

The red-faced man finally caught up, panting. “Gotcha!”

Douxie yelped and ducked behind the knight.

The knight’s eyes narrowed. “Fenlock. What’s going on?”

The red-faced man fidgeted, his face going even redder. “Ah, he’s an orphan. I took him in, but the breeding in him is just no good. Little tyke is always running off.” He forced a laugh. “Come along, Hisirdoux. Stop bothering the nice knight.”

Douxie shook his head, clinging to the knight’s leg. “I don’t wanna go home. I’m going to go on adventures, and be a knight, and—”

“Hisirdoux!” Fenlock hissed, “Just—come—here. Please,” he added with a glance at the knight.

 _Don’t make him go back_ , Archie prayed, wishing he could send his thoughts directly to the knight, _Please, don’t make him go back_.

The knight gently detached Douxie from his leg and crouched down next to him with a clank of armor. “Hisirdoux. Do you know what the first lesson a knight learns is?”

Douxie shook his head.

“It’s discipline. How to take orders, and do what we’re told.”

Douxie shook his head again, tears blooming in his eyes. “I don’t wanna go back,” he whispered.

 _Take him with you_ , Archie willed the knight, _Take him to be a knight, or even just to clean your armor, but whatever you do, don’t make him go back_.

The knight stood up, giving Douxie a pat on the head. “You’re a bit too young to be a knight, Hisirdoux. Give it a few years, eh?”

Douxie watched with tears streaming down his face as the knight walked away. Fenlock clamped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing too tight. “Let’s go, boy.”

Archie followed from above as Fenlock steered Douxie roughly through the streets. They eventually made their way to an apothecary. Archie glared at it. Funny. He wouldn’t have thought that Fenlock had the brains it required to be an apothecary.

Fenlock ripped the door open and pushed Douxie in, slamming the door behind him. Archie leapt down and crossed the street, jumping up to stand on a windowsill. Douxie was sprawled on the floor where Fenlock had shoved him, tears still running down his face.

“Eight years ago, you got left on my doorstep!” Fenlock raged, “Lots of folks would have just sent you off to an orphanage, but me? I took you in. And a fat lot of good it did me, eh?! You’re too _stupid_ to amount to _anything_ , and too clumsy to even do servant’s work! But you think you’re good enough to run away from me? You’re not worth the food I feed you!”

Archie growled, the fur on his back prickling up. The more he heard, the even less he liked Fenlock. Fenlock grabbed Douxie and dragged him out to the back, where a couple of dogs were tied to a post. They snarled and snapped when they saw Douxie and Fenlock.

“You sleep out here for a night, and we’ll see if you’re a little more grateful!” After a moment of consideration, Fenlock tied a rope to Douxie’s ankle and attached it to the dogs’ post. “So you don’t run off!”

Once Fenlock was in the house again, the dogs settled down, licking Douxie’s face and yipping excitedly.

“Well, _fine_ ,” Douxie snarked at the closed door. “I’d rather sleep out here with the dogs than in there with you _anyway_.” He stuck his tongue out, then settled down with the two dogs. “Next time, I’ll take you with me,” he promised, “Just as soon as I can get you untied.”

Archie jumped down into the yard, eying the two dogs. Their ears pricked up when they saw him, but they didn’t bark. Some guard dogs. He noticed tiny scars and sores on the dogs’ tails and ears, and he hissed. Rat bites. Of course there would be rats here—it was a big city—but he had forgotten to take that into account.

Douxie perked up. “Hey, there, kitty!” his face fell. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any more food for you.”

Archie jumped up into his lap, purring and nudging his hand for scratches. He wasn’t here for food. He… well, he wasn’t sure why he was here, actually. Why was he being drawn to this kid in particular? He glanced up at Douxie, who was absentmindedly massaging his shoulder where Fenlock had been gripping him. Archie hissed to himself. Fingerprint-shaped bruises had been left behind. When Douxie noticed him staring, he just grinned cheerfully, resuming stroking Archie.

“Could have been worse, kitty. He could have locked me in the cellar instead of out here with the dogs.”

This should _not_ have been the better alternative!

The sun was going down, and Archie tensed as his ears picked up the scratching of little feet. The gleam of beady eyes shone out of the shadows, and Archie hissed, his fur standing straight up. The rats had arrived with twilight.

The dogs growled softly, noting their nightly tormentors. A rat darted forward, chittering, but skittered backwards when one of the dogs lunged forward, stopped only by the rope around its neck.

Another rat ventured out, and then another. Douxie scrambled backwards, his back against the wooden post. A rat got too close, and he kicked it. “Go away!”

Archie hissed and pounced, snapping one of the nasty little thing’s neck with a clean shake. He dropped it, glaring at all of the other rodents and daring to even _think_ about trying it.

Another one ventured carefully out, ducking under one of the dogs, and Archie pounced again. One scampered past him, and he whirled around with a growl. How many of them _were_ there, and why didn’t they just go find some easier food?

Douxie yelped, and Archie turned towards him. A rat had sunk its teeth into the boy’s hand, and Douxie was frantically shaking his hand in an attempt to get rid of it. Archie leapt up onto Douxie’s shoulder, swiping at the rat, which let go with a squeal of pain when his claws connected. Then he jumped back down to deal with one that was attempting to gnaw on Douxie’s foot.

What he wanted more than anything was to turn into a dragon and just torch all of the rodents. But he had to keep a low profile—he didn’t think that humans were too fond of dragons in general. So he settled for hunting the rodents like a cat, trying his hardest to protect Douxie from the few rats that were bold enough to try and bite the human instead of easier prey.

As night rolled on, the rats apparently started to understand that it wasn’t worth the cat and two dogs for a few nibbles, and Archie only had to attack one or two of the braver (or stupider) ones. Douxie curled up into a ball with his back against the post, sniffing quietly and holding his injured hands close to his chest. Archie curled up next to him, purring softly.

To his surprise, Douxie picked him up, hugging him tight. “Thank you, kitty,” he whispered between hiccups.

The door to the apothecary opened, and Fenlock stormed out. Archie jumped off of Douxie and hissed at Fenlock, about ready to start biting and scratching.

Fenlock pulled one foot back for a kick, but Douxie scrambled between them, tugging his leg as far as the short rope would allow. “Wait, don’t hurt him!” he pleaded, “He killed a whole buncha rats! Don’t you complain about the rats that keep getting into your plants? He can get them if you let him stay!”

Fenlock glared at Archie, cutting Douxie loose. “If it tries to bite or scratch me, I’ll drown it,” he threatened, “And _you’re_ responsible for feeding it. Don’t expect me to give you anything extra for it.”

Douxie beamed, scooping Archie up again. “Thank you!”

“Whatever. Now, get inside and clean out the empty bottles, you should have done that _yesterday_ , if you weren’t so busy _running off_.”

Archie blinked. Wait, what? He’d be staying? This was happening way too fast! Certainly no one had asked _him_! He wasn't some soft little housecat!

Douxie gave him a squeeze, then set him down. “I’ve got to go, kitty. Please don’t attack Fenlock. He gave Archie one more pat on the head. “Thank you! You’re a good friend!”

“HISIRDOUX!” Fenlock yelled from inside.

Douxie bounced up, limping towards the door. “Bye-bye!”

Archie watched him go, then hopped up on the fence. Time to go. He glanced one more time at the apothecary. Through the window, he could see Douxie struggling to lift a bin full of glass bottles. He hopped back down off of the fence and into the yard with the dogs, who thumped their tails happily.

“Oh, Archibald,” he sighed to himself, “You _have_ gotten soft.”

**Author's Note:**

> *quietly* Douxie idolizes Merlin because despite being grumpy, he's better than whatever Douxie grew up with


End file.
